In an earnings report released in October, Apple reported 74.5 million people to one of the 317 Apple Stores around the world last quarter, setting a new retail foot traffic record.

Alexis Madrigal, senior editor at theatlantic.com, compiled attendance data from various live entertainment venues and compared it to Apple's. Guess what? Mickey Mouse was way behind.

Of course we're not really comparing apples to apples here (pun intended). The folks who go to the Apple store mostly wander about, playing with all the cool Apple stuff and they don't pay admission. And as Madrigal points out, some people buy and some don't. I know every time I go to the Apple Store at International Plaza Mall in Tampa it's packed with people. Is the Apple Store now a form of entertainment? Maybe so. You can stay there as long as you want and it doesn't cost anything, so in some ways it's not too different from going to a video arcade sans the need for tokens. Even for a hard core Apple person like me though, it's a far cry from a ride on Space Mountain.

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Living in a convenient and connected world means keeping up to date on the latest technology and gadgets. To help you sort out what's worth exploring for your own tech needs, we'll give you a one-stop guide to some of the newest products on the market — smartphones, cameras, video games, automotive products, household gadgets and more. In other words, the cool stuff.